We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. While I am aiming for the moon!

Tag Archives: surrogacy

With the current world being blessed with so many modern techniques, one must try to trace their origins.

One such “modern” method is surrogacy.

Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person. The surrogate may be the child’s genetic mother (called traditional surrogacy), or she may be genetically unrelated to the child (called gestational surrogacy). In a traditional surrogacy, the child may be conceived via home natural or artificial insemination using fresh or frozen sperm or impregnated via IUI (intrauterine insemination), or ICI (intracervical insemination) performed at a health clinic. A gestational surrogacy requires the transfer of a previously created embryo, and for this reason the process always takes place in a clinical setting.

Among the early use of this birth technique, is the incident in the Hindu mythology.

Balarama, the elder brother of Lord Krishna was one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu as stated by Bhagabat and other Puranas. His father was Vasudeva of Yadu clan but he had two mothers Devaki and Rohini. Maharaja Kamsa, the king of Mathura killed all the six issues of his sister Devaki as one of her sons was to kill him according to some forecast. So Goddess Yogamaya had made some miracle for her seventh issue, while Devaki was pregnant. Yogamaya extracted the foetus from the uterus of Devaki while she was eight months pregnant and placed it inside the uterus of Rohini. Rohini at that time hide herself in Nanda’s house at Gopa for the fear of demon Kamsa.

It is said in Bhagavat that –

‘Devakya Jathare Garbham Shesakhyam Dham Mamakam,

Tata Sanni Krushya Rohinya Udare Sanniveshaya’

Bhagavat [10-3-(8-10)]

It is said in Bhagavat that the supreme power called Shesha which is the abode of Lord Krishna (Vishnu), took birth as a human in the form of foetus in the uterus of Devaki. Goddess Yogamaya had extracted the foetus of Balarama and placed it safely inside the uterus of Rohini, the second wife of Basudeva. So after birth his name was Sankarsana. Balaram took birth after two months from Rohini on the day of Shravan Purnima (Gahma Purnima). He was called Sankarshan as he was extracted from others womb.

Lord Balram

The other name of Balarama is also Sankarshana, meaning a spirit transferred between two wombs.

So, clearly the answers to many of our “modern” problems might be traced back into our history! Rather we can say that – “History repeats itself”